Carriage-top



- (N0 MOdeL) T.'J. REED.

CARRIAGE TOP.

Patented Mam. I1, 1884..

To (bad whom it may concern NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE J. REED, OF LEAVENVVORTH, KANSAS.

CARRIAGE-TOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 294,912, dated March 11, 1884.

Application filed August 8,1883. tNomodel.)

Be it known'that I, THEODORE J. REED, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Leavenworth,in the county of Leavenworth and State of Kansas, have invented cer-.

tain new and useful Improvements in Buggy- Tops and the Like; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the manufacture of molded or pressed tops for buggies, carriages, and like vehicles; and the invention consists in a seamless top for vehicles, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In the annexed drawings, showing one practical way of carrying out the invention, Fig urel represents a vertical section of a pair of dies with a piece of leatherinterposed between the die-faces. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the lower die, showing the configuration of the struck-up or pressed top after the upper die has been removed. Fig. 3 is a side view of the upper die. Fig. 4 is aperspective view of the upper die. Fig.5 is aperspective View of the pressed seamless buggy-top, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a blank for the manufacture of a buggy-top.

In the manufacture of the tops for buggies, carriages, and like vehicles, either leather, cloth, rubber, or any other suitable material that is capable of being folded is employed. The sheets or pieces of material selected are laid off and patterns cutout substantially of the configuration shown in Fig.6 of the drawings. This now-termed blank- A is placed between dies and pressed or struck-up to the required form. The die B is formed with a concave depression, the side corners of which are rounding, the vertical end h and the end f inclined. This concave depression has the outline or appearance in this example of the top of a buggy. The upper die, D, is-formed with a downward projection, E, the lower edge, e, of which is curved to correspond with the curve of the bottom of the depressed portion of the die B, and is formed at its forward end with the incline wall f, and the vertical wall h, substantially as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. The corresponding end walls, h and h, of the lower and upper dies shape the rear end or back of the top, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 5 of the drawings. In this example the blank A is fitted to the interior of the die 13, which is secured to the base or anvil of a press,while the upper die, D, is suitably secured to the movable face or end of the piston, so as to be forced into the lower die, and the coming together of the dies presses the pattern to the desired shape of the dies. After the dies have been matched together for a suitable length of time the upper die is removed from the lower die, and the pressed topis removed therefrom in a shaped condition for the carriage-trimmers.

The advantages derived from the manufac ture of tops bythis method are, among others,

. that there is no ripping and repairing of seams, and that the top is more durable and presents a more finished appearance.

WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

As an improved article of manufacture, a seamless buggy or like top, having integral sides and back, and molded into shape from asingle piece leather blank, or blank of equivalent material, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE J. REED.

Vitnesses:

J. GUYER, WM. DILL. 

